Sunday, June 25, 2006

BROTHERS ON THE TRAIL OF COMEDY GENIUS South Wales Evening Post 21.06.06

A quest to track down ordinary streets used in classic British movies has brought two brothers to Swansea on the trail of comedy genius Peter Sellers. John and Brian Tunstill embarked on a private obsession to trace streets and buildings they had seen in old films two years ago. Now they are the proud owners of a website that has attracted two million visitors from curious members of the public keen to see their street on film.

The latest to attract their attention is Only Two Can Play, a 1962 film starring Sellers as a bored librarian attempting to embark on a steamy affair with a councillor's wife.

The comedy was filmed in and around Swansea and is based on the Kingsley Amis novel That Uncertain Feeling.

It includes shots of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Alexandra Road, Mayhill streets and the tennis courts at Bishop Gore school.

John Tunstill explained that he and his brother had visited hundreds of streets across Britain in their quest to document where films were shot.

John said: "It's like a treasure hunt. We see a film and there are little clues.

"With Only Two Can Play it is obviously set in Wales, and somewhere quite industrial. It's also close to the sea, so that narrowed it down to this area.

"There are all sorts of clues to look out for."

The pair take stills from the films and try to discover their exact whereabouts. They also photograph the modern day scenes to see how a place has changed.

Despite starting as a hobby, the pair say it is turning into an obsession. John lives in Italy and between then they spend hundreds of pounds visiting film sites around the country.

John said: "It's amazing the reaction it has generated. We never thought we would be getting two million hits on the site when we set it up.

"People are fascinated by it when they realise a film was shot on their street. It's down to nostalgia.

"Everybody loves nostalgia and everybody loves films.

"Once we have a film on the website, we get all sorts of people contacting us to say they were an extra, or they worked on such and such a film. There are some great stories."

The brothers have around 400 films they are hoping to get on the website, so have plenty of places still to visit.

Brian said: "The fascination is often inverse to the popularity of a film.

"If it didn't do well, we won't get so many hits, but the ones we do get are always interesting."